Hynobius ikioi Matsui, Nishikawa, and Tominaga, 2017

Class: Amphibia > Order: Caudata > Family: Hynobiidae > Subfamily: Hynobiinae > Genus: Hynobius > Species: Hynobius ikioi

Hynobus ikioi Matsui, Nishikawa, and Tominaga, 2017, Zool. Sci., Tokyo, 34: 540. Holotype: KUHE 26065, by original designation. Type locality: "Gokase Highland Ski area on Mt. Shiraiwa-dake (32°34N, 131°06E, alt.1276 m a.s.l.) in Gokase-cho, Miyazaki Prefecture", Japan. See comment. 

Hynobius (Hynobius) ikioi — Raffaëlli, 2022, Salamanders & Newts of the World: 123.

English Names

Stejneger's Oriental Salamander (Frank and Ramus, 1995, Compl. Guide Scient. Common Names Amph. Rept. World: 28, as Hynobius stejnegeri).

Amber-colored Salamander (Ananjeva, Borkin, Darevsky, and Orlov, 1988, Dict. Amph. Rept. Five Languages: 21; Thorn and Raffaëlli, 2000, Salamand. Ancien Monde: 81 [as Hynobius stejnegeri]; Raffaëlli, 2022, Salamanders & Newts of the World: 123).

Tortoiseshell Salamander (Goris and Maeda, 2004, Guide Amph. Rept. Japan: 28, as Hynobius stejnegeri).

Distribution

Vicinity of Mount Aso, in Kumamoto, Miyazaki, and Kagoshima Prefectures, Kyushu Island, Japan, at elevations around 1000 m.

Geographic Occurrence

Natural Resident: Japan

Endemic: Japan

Comment

The holotype of Hynobius stejnegeri Dunn, 1923, the name for this species for near 100 years, was found to be a member of the species known as Hynobius yatsui Oyama, 1947, taking priority over that name and requiring a new name for this species, as explained and executed by Matsui, Nishikawa, and Tominaga, 2017, Zool. Sci., Tokyo, 34: 538–545. This makes for a confusion of names, but not insurmountably so. See accounts (as Hynobius stejnegeri) by Thorn and Raffaëlli, 2000, Salamand. Ancien Monde: 81-82, and Raffaëlli, 2007, Les Urodèles du Monde: 53. Goris and Maeda, 2004, Guide Amph. Rept. Japan: 28-29, provided an account, map, and photograph, as Hynobius stejnegeri. Nishikawa, Matsui, and Tanabe, 2005, Herpetologica, 61: 54-62, reported on biochemical biogeography in Kyushu, Japan, as Hynobius stejnegeri. Nishikawa, Matsui, Tanabe, and Sato, 2007, Zool. Sci., Tokyo, 24: 752-766, considered this species (as Hynobius stejnegeri) to be phylogenetically imbedded within Hynobius boulengeri. See photograph, map, description of geographic range and habitat, and conservation status, as Hynobius stejnegeri, in Stuart, Hoffmann, Chanson, Cox, Berridge, Ramani, and Young, 2008, Threatened Amph. World: 551.  Nishikawa and Matsui, 2014, Zootaxa, 3852: 203–226, named three new species from Kyushu (Hynobius amakasuensis, Hynobius shinichisatoi, and Hynobius osumiensis) that had previous been confused with this species (as Hynobius stejnegeri) and Hynobius boulengeriRaffaëlli, 2013, Urodeles du Monde, 2nd ed.: 72–73, provided a brief account, photo, and map (in the earlier sense of Hynobius stejnegeri) although noting the existence of then unnamed species. Raffaëlli, 2022, Salamanders & Newts of the World: 123–124, provided an account, summarizing systematics, life history, population status, and distribution (including a polygon map).

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